MBBS course should include counselling as a subject

Patient satisfaction is important for doctors. Patients may not be 100% happy but the doctors must try.

It is necessary to arrange counselling for doctors so that they can talk with patients to make them satisfied. For this, the subject of counselling has to be added to the medical syllabus.

If this subject is incorporated in the MBBS and post-graduate syllabuses, then the doctors will learn about it and will be able to convince their patients thoroughly. But the subject should not focus only on passing the exams, it must be practical.

If you cannot satisfy patients, your qualifications and skills will be of no use. It may be possible to get a Nobel Prize by doing extensive research, but people will not recognise you if you cannot satisfy your patients.

Patients often allege that doctors do not give them enough time, do not touch them with their hands, and prescribe medical tests and medicines without listening to their problems properly.

Many patients of the country nowadays go abroad for treatment, although it is much costly, simply because doctors there talk to their patients with care. Patients who go abroad for treatment even say doctors there listen to the history of their parents and grandparents too, but doctors in our country prescribe medications even before hearing the problems.

People will not respect us anymore if the situation goes on like this. It may sound annoying but this is the reality. Doctors should pay attention to this.

A doctor has to spend enough time with their patients, talk to them and examine them. The patients need to be informed about the disease.

If a patient cannot be told that the disease they are suffering from will not get better, it has to be explained to their relatives. Then there will be less misunderstanding. Otherwise, patients or their relatives will think the doctor has given them wrong treatment.

It is important to talk to patients and their relatives to clear these kinds of misunderstandings

Besides, doctors should prescribe as few tests as possible and they should be prescribed considering the patients' condition.

Another important thing is that in our country 80% of the services are provided by junior doctors. So, we have to consider their conditions too.

If you want good service from them, you have to give them something. Junior doctors lag behind other cadres in many issues. Doctor satisfaction is also important, otherwise they will not be happy to provide services. The issue of their promotion should also be considered.

Dr ABM Abdullah is an emeritus professor and personal physician of the prime minister